The USDA has released the final rule for the Biomass Crop Assistance Program. Although the general scope of BCAP is not changing, there are some key changes being made to several components of the program. A public comment period is now open. READ MORESHARE

As America marks the 102nd anniversary of tax breaks for oil companies this week, the Fuels America coalition is launching a "Clean, Secure American Energy" campaign that will highlight the success of the renewable fuel standard (RFS). READ MORESHARE

Legislation that aims to repeal the Dec. 31, 2015 sunset date of Oregon's Clean Fuels Program has been sent to the governor for consideration. The bill, S.B. 324, was passed by the Oregon House of Representatives on March 4 by a single vote.READ MORESHARE

The U.S. ethanol industry came off its best streak of profitability in January, one that ran 95 consecutive weeks without a loss for the model Iowa plant used to estimate and track industry profitability. READ MORESHARE

Wyoming Gov. Matthew H. Mead recently signed a bill into law imposing a fuel tax on previously exempt alternative fuels such as biodiesel and ethanol. The new rate of taxation on alternative fuels beginning July 1 is 24 cents per gallon.READ MORESHARE

Renmatix has announced an investment by the New Energies Division of Total, and the signing of a joint development agreement. Under the agreement, the companies will utilize Renmatix's Plantrose process with specific feedstocks.READ MORESHARE

Corn consumed for fuel ethanol was 445.7 million bushels in January, down 2 percent from December, but up 3 percent from November. Dry mills used 89.3 percent of that, while wet milling fuel production consumed the remaining 10.7 percent. READ MORESHARE

Guido Ghisolfi, 58, leader of Mossi & Ghisolfi Group died March 3. "He was suffering from severe depression and yesterday this resulted in his untimely passing close to his home in Tortona, Northern Italy," said a statement from the company. READ MORESHARE

The North Dakota Alliance for Renewable Energy has published results of a statewide public opinion survey on renewable energy and energy efficiency. Ethanol was one of the renewable energy types addressed in the survey.READ MORESHARE

A new study from the Energy Department's National Renewable Energy Laboratory demonstrates the conversion of lignin-derived compounds to adipic acid, an important industrial dicarboxylic acid.READ MORESHARE

The USDA announced it is now accepting applications for research and education grants through the Biomass Research and Development Initiative. Approximately $8.7 million in grants are expected to be awarded through the program.READ MORESHARE

The U.S. Department of Energy updated its notice for the recently announced meeting of the Biomass Research and Development Technical Advisory Committee. The meeting will now take place as a webinar on March 5.READ MORESHARE

The Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, one of three bioenergy research centers established in 2007 by the U.S. Department of Energy, recently celebrated the filing of its 100th patent application.READ MORESHARE

A decline in ethanol prices has accompanied the decline in gasoline prices, yet ethanol production has been at record levels for much of the current corn marketing year, biofuels economist Robert Wisner noted in a recent analysis. READ MORESHARE

A recent study simulated a side-by-side comparison of the yields and costs of producing ethanol using miscanthus, switchgrass, and corn stover. The fast-growing energy grass miscanthus was the clear winner.READ MORESHARE

A recent analysis found that replacing just half of the 2.4 billion gallons of regular E10 gas consumed in Wisconsin with E15 would eliminate 175,636 tons of CO2 equivalent emitted to our air every year.READ MORESHARE

Researchers at the Institute of Food Research have developed a new way of rapidly screening yeasts that could help produce more sustainable biofuels. The technique could also aid in the search for new ways of deriving valuable renewable chemicals.READ MORESHARE

Florida Gulf Cost University officials recently held groundbreaking ceremonies for the Emergent Technologies Institute, a new research campus that will team academics and private sector partners to study and incubate renewable energy technology. READ MORESHARE

Researchers with the Energy Biosciences Institute have found a way to increase the production of fuels and other chemicals from biomass fermented by yeast by introducing new metabolic pathways into the yeast.READ MORESHARE